Perry’s speech about politics, not reality

Texas Gov. Rick Perry gave a nice campaign speech Tuesday at the Capitol in Austin.

Too bad it was supposed to be a “state of the state” address.

Perry is expected to announce in May whether he will run for another term as governor. And many expect him to make another run for the White House in four years.

This is the seventh time Perry—the state’s longestserving governor—has made the biennial address to the Legislature. And he took the opportunity to paint Texas as being in fine fiscal shape—yes, really—and himself as a taxcutting conservative who is against just about everything President Barack Obama is for.

Just about everything. We’ll get to the exception later.

For starters, Perry says anticipated revenues are such the state can afford to return $1.8 billion to the people.

Now, he has no plan on how to do that. In fact, he’s willing to take suggestions from the public via his Website.

“While Washington, D.C., can sometimes seem entirely nonresponsive and is increasing the tax burden on Americans, and other states are scrambling to grab every tax dollar they can, I’m proud that in Texas we’re talking about the best way to give money back,” Perry said.

Current Texas law doesn’t allow surplus funds to be sent back to the taxpayers. So a constitutional amendment would be necessary if any kind of workable plan to do so can be developed.

Everyone likes the idea of a tax rebate. Sending $600 checks made brownie points for President George W. Bush with many voters.

But is this the right time to do something similar in Texas? The state made huge budget cuts in education and health care to get out of an enormous budget shortfall just a couple of years ago. Texas may be anticipating—let’s say that again, anticipating—strong revenues for the next two years, but what about down the road? No one can say what the economic picture will look like.

Shouldn’t Texas

lawmakers be more concerned about shoring up the state’s finances in case revenue projections don’t pan out as anticipated or take a dive a few years from now before sending dollars back to the folks at home?

And, if there is extra cash, what about restoring some of the billions stripped from education and health care?

Guess that doesn’t play well with the voters.

Perry is not against spending, though, as long as he can promise there will be no new taxes to pay for it. To that end, he has loosened his stance on the state’s $12 billion Rainy Day Fund. Two years ago he said that money should not be touched. Now he wants to dole out $3.7 billion from the fund to work on the state’s water and transportation infrastructure.

Water and transportation are important in Texas. And depending of just what projects he wants to fund—again, details aren’t this governor’s strong suit—this could be a decent idea.

But why did Perry flip on the Rainy Day Fund? It’s easy. People like infrastructure projects if they don’t have to pay for them directly.

The governor didn’t restrict himself to handing out money. He also came out strong against the Obama administration’s health care plan. He stuck to his guns, saying Texas will not expand the federal-state Medicaid program nor set up a health insurance exchange.

This will win him points with the Tea Party and die-hard antiObama voters. But again the devil is in the details Perry leaves out.

Medicaid

costs

are

as

rising. They are going to keep rising. And Texas will have to deal with it, either now or down the road. Perry is turning down federal funds that would help the state deal with Medicaid costs in hopes the problem won’t become acute until he is either out of the Governor’s Mansion or in the White House. His strategy is not good for the people nor the health care industry.

As for the health insurance exchange, if the state doesn’t set it up the federal government will. One way or the other Texas will have an exchange. Perry’s way gives the state little say in it.

There is one thing Perry appears to agree with the president on—at least this time around. And that’s immigration reform.

Two years ago Perry used the state of the state address as a bully pulpit on illegal immigration, calling for criminal penalties for those who hire illegal aliens and an end to so-called “sanctuary cities,” among other measures.

This time around he was as silent as a clam on immigration.

Smart move. Perry seems to be one of the Republicans who understands demographics are changing and, even if he hadn’t changed his views, is at least savvy enough to shut up about them. You can’t win by annoying the Latino community.

Here’s what Perry should have said: It wasn’t long ago that Texas was in the economic cellar. Now things are better, but we can’t bank on that continuing just yet. So we must husband our money and ensure the state’s fiances are on an even keep for the future. But we face challenges. Education and health care are underfunded. And the situation isn’t getting better. So we have to commit to finding a solution to both. And if that means working with the current administration, so be it. The focus must be on what’s best for all the people of Texas, now and in the future.

But he didn’t. And that shows clearly his mind on more on his political future than the Lone Star State.